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<title>the best-laid plans by MaddieandChimney</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27124546">the best-laid plans</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieandChimney/pseuds/MaddieandChimney'>MaddieandChimney</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>911 Dispatchers Week 2020 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>9-1-1 (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Gen, mentions of child birth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:47:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,471</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27124546</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaddieandChimney/pseuds/MaddieandChimney</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>This definitely isn't the way she planned on giving birth but the end result is so completely worth it. </p><p>.</p><p>Day two: “Are you sure this is a good idea?” + angst</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Maddie Buckley &amp; Josh Russo, Maddie Buckley/Howie "Chimney" Han, Maddie Buckley/Sue Blevins</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>911 Dispatchers Week 2020 [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1978777</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>the best-laid plans</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Maddie shakes her head as she takes a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself down, to no avail. She tries to keep her eyes on the calm, kind face of Sue as she talks to her about <em>something</em> that she can barely hear over the thoughts whirring through her own mind right then. Despite the fact he’s talked probably hundreds of people through this entire process on the phone, Josh’s panicked voice filters through her thoughts and she finds herself looking over at him, completely regretting it the second she does.</p><p>“Are you sure this is a good idea?” She’s not sure she’s ever seen her best friend so pale or his eyes so wide (and they’ve been through a hostage situation together so that’s quite an achievement) and she’s definitely not heard that quiver in his voice as he grips onto some blankets he’d pulled from some long forgotten cupboard. And oh god, her baby is going to be born on some dusty, musky smelling blanket that probably hasn’t seen the light of day in years and Chimney isn’t here.</p><p>“No but we don’t really have a choice, do we?” It’s uncharacteristic of the woman Maddie has grown to respect and love more than she could ever put into words, to snap and it causes Josh to bite down on his lip before he gently settles the blanket down on the floor near Maddie.</p><p>The movement is enough to force her to shake her head, letting out a groan when another contraction hits and all she can do is ask herself why? Why did it have to be today? An entire week before her due date and on the day an earthquake has hit LA and her frustrated boyfriend can’t get to her because he’s saving lives in a building on the other side of the city and if the pace continues in the way it has, he’s not going to make it in time to see his daughter make her way into the world. Really, she should have known, the baby was half-Buckley, of course she’d make a dramatic entrance. Just as she had three weeks too early at her parents wedding and just as her brother had seven years later at a funeral.</p><p>They sure as hell didn’t do things by halves, she’d expect no less of the little girl seemingly so desperate to say hello. It had happened quickly – one minute she was on the phone to a woman trapped in her car, talking to her as she waited for help and the next minute, as she was preparing to pick up the next call, the first contraction hit. Which at the time didn’t seem like too big of a deal. She could carry on taking calls, she could carry on helping people as she subtly tried to text Chimney to let him know that it was time. Her waters hadn’t broken and first births took time, right? She had plenty of time.</p><p>Maddie almost laughs at her own thoughts because all she can remember is crying out in pain and Sue practically sprinting over to her before Josh stumbled out of his chair and suddenly she was on the floor and the other woman was desperately trying to get hold of the 118 via radio. “Oh my god, not you.” She finally manages to gasp out when Josh shifts towards her legs, reaching out to grab his arm, “I swear to god, you best keep your eyes up here, Joshua—” She pauses as she grits her teeth, digging her nails into his arm as she does, “Daniel Russo.” She finishes, gripping onto his arm that little bit tighter when he winces.</p><p>This wasn’t how she had planned things – she and Chimney had a hospital bag and a birthing plan and he was meant to be there holding her hand. They were meant to be excited to finally meet their daughter, safely surrounded by doctors and nurses who knew what they were doing. And sure, Sue has been through child birth twice herself but it’s not the same and the two people and everyone else they’re surrounded by have been through the motions a thousand times over on the phone but her heart is pounding and she feels as though she’s about to burst into tears at any given second. She’s thirty-seven years old, she’s meant to give birth in a hospital and not on the floor of the dispatch centre in a room she’s had many a coffee (or lately, a hot chocolate) in.</p><p>“Okay, Maddie, I need you to push, okay?” Sue’s voice is so calming, Maddie can almost feel the panic deflating as Josh manages to release his arm from her grip, taking her hand instead as he grins down at her.</p><p>“And to think we had this huge goodbye party planned for you on your last shift tomorrow. Cake, balloons, gifts… <em>everything</em>, I planned it all—maybe we can have it—”</p><p>“Shut up.” She lets out a groan as she shakes her head, squeezing her eyes tightly shut when she forces her head up, feeling Josh move his other hand to clasp over hers as she holds the one that had already been in hers tightly, trying to imagine it’s Chimney’s for a second. Between Sue’s words of encouragement and the feeling of Josh’s hand in hers – one of the very first people in LA who had made her feel so welcome, as though she belonged – she forgets every single part of her that tells her something is going to wrong and tries to focus on the fact her baby girl is about to enter the world in one of the places she feels the safest, despite the hostage situation barely nine months before.</p><p>She opens her eyes to look at Sue, biting down on her lip when she sees the tears shining in her eyes and the huge grin on her face as she nods her head at her, “That’s it Maddie, you’re doing so well. Chimney is on his way, okay? He’ll be here soon, just push for me.”</p><p>Maddie isn’t entirely certain whether or not her good friend is telling her the truth but she clings onto the words anyway, focusing on the fact that her boyfriend would be there to hold their daughter soon. So, she pushes, listening to the excited cries of her best friend and to the supportive words from the woman she’s always admired so much until no other sound exists in the world other than the cries of her baby girl for the first time.</p><p>Her grip loosens on Josh’s hand the second the screaming baby is placed on her chest by a crying Sue, her arms gently wrapping around her daughter as the man who had been such a phenomenal support network since she had arrived in LA leans down to press his lips to her forehead, feeling his own tears on her skin as he does. “She’s perfect, Maddie.” There’s just a moment of silence as she takes in the moment she had never thought would happen for her until she had been holding two pregnancy tests in her hands seven months prior, before Josh speaks again, “Now, how about something like Jocelyn or… Joshlynn? Josephine… Jo—”</p><p>She’s exhausted and in pain and she knows it’s not fully over yet but she just wants to take however many moments she can to enjoy the feeling of the tiny baby against her chest, rolling her eyes at the man. “How about you go find me something other than that horrid blanket because it’s not touching my daughter.”</p><p>“Yes ma’am.” She watches as he moves to stand up before he pauses, “Congratulations, Maddie. Maybe they’ll name the building after you or little—”</p><p>She knows he’s fishing for the name of their daughter which she and Chimney had managed to keep to themselves from the moment they had decided, just in case they changed their minds when they laid eyes on her. But Maddie could tell from the very first second that she was exactly what they had decided on. “Little baby Han for now, you’ll find out when her daddy gets here, is he really on his way?”</p><p>“Would I lie to you?” Sue’s voice cuts through and Maddie shakes her head in hope, although she’s not entirely sure of the answer herself. “He’ll be here soon, probably before the paramedics, I promise.” All she can do is nod her head, completely and utterly besotted with the beautiful baby she holds in her arms as her fingers gently graze through the flock of black hair as she smiles.</p><p>It’s definitely not what she had planned and she longs for things to have been different but the end result is so completely worth it.</p>
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